Acts 26:21

“It is because I preached this message that some [SYN] Jews seized me when I was in the Temple courtyard and tried to kill me.

Translation for Translators

In The King James Version

For these causes the Jews caught me in the temple, and went about to kill me.

In Context

20First, I preached to the Jews in Damascus. Then I preached to the Jews in Jerusalem and throughout the rest of Judea province. After that, I also preached to non-Jews. I preached that they must turn away from their sinful behavior and turn their lives over to God. I told them that they must do things that would show that they had truly stopped their sinful behavior.”

22However, God has been helping me from that time, and he is still helping me today. So I stand here and I tell all of you people, those who are important and those who are not, who Jesus is. Everything that I say about him is what Moses and the other prophets wrote about long ago, things that they said would happen.

Read all of Acts 26

Cross References

Acts 21:27When the seven days for purifying themselves were nearly finished, Paul returned to the Temple courtyard. Some Jews from Asia province saw him there, and they were very angry at him. On another day they had seen Paul walking around in Jerusalem with Trophimus, who was a non-Jew. Their laws did not permit non-Jews to be in the Temple, and they thought that Paul had brought Trophimus into the Temple courtyard that day. So they called out to many other Jews who were in the Temple courtyard to help them seize [MTY] Paul. They shouted, “Fellow Israelites, come and help us punish this man! This is the one who is constantly teaching people wherever he goes that they should despise the Jewish people. He teaches people that they should no longer obey the laws of Moses nor respect this holy Temple. He has even brought non-Jews here into the court of our Temple, causing God to consider it no longer holy!”

Acts 22:22The people listened quietly to what Paul was saying until he mentioned the Lord sending him to non-Jewish people. Then they began shouting angrily, “Kill him! He does not deserve to live any longer!” They said that because they could not believe that God would save anyone except Jews.

Acts 25:3They urgently asked Festus to do something for them. They asked him to command soldiers to bring Paul to Jerusalem, so that Festus could put him on trial there. But they were planning that some of them would hide near the road and wait for Paul and kill him when he was traveling to Jerusalem.

Matthew Henry on Acts 26:13-24

Paul's Fifth Defence. 12 Whereupon as I went to Damascus with authority and commission from the chief priests, 13 At midday, O king, I saw in the way a light from heaven, above the brightness of the sun, shining round about me and them which journeyed with me. 14 And when we were all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice speaking unto me, and saying in the Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. 15 And I said, Who art thou, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus… Read the whole commentary →

This Verse In Other Editions

Study Acts 26:21